Fire extinguisher device



Jan. 17, 1956 R. GORDON FIRE EXTINGUISHER DEVICE Filed June 20, 1955gmmA/WW ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent FIRE EXTINGUISHER DEVICE Robert Gordon, Chicago,Ill., assignor to Graphicolor, Inc., Evanston, 111., a corporation ofIilinois Application June 20, 1955, Serial No. 516,487

2 Claims. (Cl. 169-35) This invention relates to a fire extinguisherdevice. The invention is particularly useful in the dispensing of powdermaterial efiective in the quenching of fires.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application,Serial No. 398,733, now abandoned, for Fire Extinguisher Device.

It has heretofore been suggested that powder material be employed in thequenching of fires, and such powder compositions are well known. Most ofthe compositions consist of sodium bicarbonate in combination withtricalcium phosphate, etc. Sometimes magnesium stearate is added. Thepowder compositions present a difficulty in that they tend to cake orlump, and also tend to cling to a container in which they are packaged.A compressed gas container for discharging the powder upon a fire sourceis of value in that the powder can be thus dislodged by gaseouspressure, but the apparatus employed is expensive, and the use of thehigh compression necessary for the gas renders the device dangerous.

A further difficulty arises from the fact that the dry powder employedfor the extinguishing of fires becomes affected by vapors passing intothe container, and for this reason or other reasons, there is a tendencyfor the material to become packed within a container after a period oftime so that it is extremely difiicult to dislodge the material anddischarge it effectively upon a fire.

An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensivecontainer which may be manipulated to break up the powder and dischargeit effectively, while at the same time providing on the interior of thecontainer an extremely smooth surface which is repellent to the powderand allows it to flow readily therefrom. Another object is to provide insuch a structure an exterior treated surface which renders the sameimpervious to the transmission of vapor, while at the same time makingthe structure more resilient and effective as a means for dispensing thepowder. A still further object is to provide a dispensing device inwhich a plastic container has an interior untreated surface which isnormally repellent to the powder employed and havng an outer surfacewhich is toughened and made resilient by treatment and is sealed againstvapor transmission. Other specific objects and advantages will appear asthe specification proceeds.

The invention is shown, in an illustrative embodiment, by theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of acontainer employed in the practice of my invention and shown with thecentral portion compressed for the discharge of powder; Fig. 2, a brokenvertical sectional view, showing the upper portion of the container insection; and Fig. 3, a broken sectional view on an enlarged scale of aportion of the side wall of the container and illustrating the treatmentthereof along the exterior surface.

I have discovered that an effective fire extinguishing device can beproduced through the use of a particular plastic material having certainpeculiar features. A container formed of polyethylene has on its innersurface, which is untreated, a very smooth finish which is characiceterized by the fact that it is repellent to most materials. Such asurface will not receive printing or decorative material. It is alsorepellent to powder and other granular material. The inner surface ofthe bottle, therefore, forms an ideal surface for receiving the fireextinguishing powder because there is no tendency for the powder to seator cake within the container. The powder remains free-flowing, eventhough it may sit within the container for periods of a year or more.The exterior of the container, however, is treated, as by theapplication of a flame thereto to render the molecules on the outersurface of the bottle more unsaturated. The application of flame to theouter surface of the bottle changes the characteristic of the molecules,rendering them highly unsaturated and producing a novel etfect on thecontainer which is highly effective in making it a dispensing container.The flame treatment, in the first place, roughens the outer surface sothat it has a drag when the fingers are drawn along the surface, and itthus allows the container to be held in the hand while dispensing thepowder. In the second place, the treatment toughens the outer surface ofthe bottle and renders it more resilient, thus rendering the bottlehighly effective as a pumping device. In the third place, the treatmentdecreases the vapor transmission through the bottle so that the vapormaterials which might have an adverse efiect upon the chemicals insideof the bottle, are not permitted to pass through.

In the illustration given, 10 designates a bottle formed of polyethylenehaving a very smooth interior surface 11, which is normally repellent toa powder. The bottle is provided at its top with a neck 12 havingthreads 13. The threads 13 of the bottle neck are engaged by a closure14 having a threaded skirt engaging the threads 13 or neck 12 andproviding at its upper end a nozzle 15 having a dispensing passage 16extending therethrough. The nozzle 15 is provided exteriorly withthreads 17 engaged by an interiorly-threaded cap 18.

In the operation of the structure, the closure 14 is removed and powder,indicated by the numeral 19, is introduced into the container to aboutthe point indicated in Fig. 2. The closure 14, which is preferablyformed of plastic, is screwed tightly to form a seal with the bottleneck 12, and then cap 13, which is also preferably formed of plastic, istightly screwed in position to form a tight seal of the passage 16. Asealing gasket 20 may be employed between the closure 14 and the top ofthe bottle neck 12, to further render the closure vapor-tight.

In addition to the gasket 20, a similar gasket or sealing material isemployed on the outside of the closure 14 to seal the space between theclosure and the neck of the bottle therebelow, and for this purpose aplastic strip may be used. It is extremely important that the containerbe sealed against the ingress of moisture-containing air, because of thehygroscopic character of the bicarbonate of soda. Any moisture wouldcause lumping or caking of the material and would interfere with theeffective operation of the extinguisher at the time of the fireemergency.

Another factor of importance is the size of the orifice through whichthe powder is ejected. If the powder is ejected in a heavy fluid body,it is found that it is ineffective in extinguishing the fire. Thematerial is effective only when it is pumped through the orifice anddischarged as a cloud. In the form of a dust or cloud, the powder ishighly effective in the extinguishing of fire and in order to achievethe dust cloud discharge, I find that critical orifice limits arenecessary. The preferred orifice diameter is 7 of an inch, and theeffective range of diameters is between and of an inch.

The exterior wall of the container, as indicated by the numeral 21, isthen treated by flame contact to change the character of the exteriorsurface. The treated exterior surface 22 is somewhat roughened after thecontact with the flame, so that the surface now presents a drag inengagement with the fingers and enables the operator to firmly hold thecontainer when it is being pumped for the discharge of the powder.Further, the modified surface 22 is found to seal the container againstthe inflow of vapor and the bottle wall is further toughened andrendered more resilient. The filled container may, in the sealedcondition described, be placed away in an automobile compartment, in thekitchen, or in the shop, and allowed to stand for long periods of time.Should a fire occur, the operator will remove the cap 18 and thenrapidly compress and relax the bottle 10 to discharge powder through theoutlet passage 16. The degree of flexing is illustrated in Fig. 1. Inthis operation, the highly flexible, resilient walls of the containerchurn the powder 19 within the container and discharge the upper portionthereof through the outlet 16 and upon the fire which is to beextinguished. After the fire has been extinguished, the cap 13 may beagain tightly sealed in position, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the fireextinguisher may be placed away on a shelf for later use.

In Fig. 3, there is shown a gas burner 23, from which a flame 24 extendsdownwardly into contact with the outer wall surface 22 of bottle 10.Direct contact of the flame with the bottle surface brings about thechange in character described, resulting in the surface molecules of thepolyethylene body becoming highly unsaturated and obtaining theroughened characteristic and the characteristic of greater resilienceheretofore described. While I prefer to use the flame treatment, it willbe understood that other methods of treating the exterior surface of thebottle may be employed. It is found that an electric corona discharge isalso effective in producing an unsaturation of the molecules of theouter surface of the polyethylene bottle, and such method, or equivalentmethods, may be used in place of the flame treatment.

The polyethylene package described is believed to be unique in that theinner surfaces of the bottle, where the polyethylene molecules arehighly saturated, are smooth and repellent to particulate matter, sothat there is no tendency for the powder material to lump or cake orseat within the container. The outer surfaces of the bottle, on theother hand, are roughened by reason of the flame treatment, and form atough, resilient body for the pumping action which is necessary for thedispensing of the powder. The roughened surface can be readily graspedin bringing about the rapid pumping action shown in Fig. 1.

The powder employed in the polyethylene bottle package may be of anysuitable type or material. I prefer to use a mixture of sodiumbicarbonate and tricalcium phosphate. There is a further advantage inadding magnesium stearate. I prefer to use sodium bicarbonate in theproportion of 97 to 100%, the tricalcium phosphate in the proportion ofto 1. /2 and the magnesium stearate in the proportion of 0 to 1 /2%. Thetricalcium phosphate is useful in promoting free flowing of the powderand inhibiting moisture, while the magnesium stearate is useful ininhibiting moisture.

The following specific compositions have been found useful:

Percent Sodium bicarbonate 99 Tricalcium phosphate /2 of 1 Magnesiumstearate /2 of 1 Percent Sodium bicarbonate 99 Tricalcium phosphate lPercent Sodium bicarbonate 100 I have found that all of the powdercompositions now employed for the extinguishing of fires may beeffectively dispensed in the package container described.

While, in the foregoing specification, I have set forth a specificstructure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating myinvention, it will be understood that such details of structure may bevaried widely by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A fire extinguisher package, comprising a polyethylene bottleequipped with a threaded neck, an interiorly-threaded closure engagingsaid neck, a sealing member forming an airtight seal about said closure,said closure having a discharge passage extending therethrough andcommunicating with the interior of said bottle, a second closure forsaid discharge passage, said discharge passage having a diameter ofabout W of an inch, said bottle having an inner polyethylene surfaceformed by saturated polyethylene molecules and having an outer surfaceconsisting substantially of highly unsaturated polyethylene moleculeswhich roughen the surface and produce a drag against the fingers whenthe bottle is .zanually grasped, and a body of hygroscopicfire-extinguishing powder consisting principally of sodium bicarbonatewithin said chamber, said bottle, when the discharge passage in saidclosure is open, being manipulatable by rapid squeezing for thedispensing of the powder in the form of a cloud from the bottle.

2. A fire extinguisher package, comprising a polyethylene bottleequipped with a threaded neck, an internally-threaded closure engagingsaid neck and secured thereagainst, a sealing member providing anairtight seal between said closure and neck, said closure having adischarge passage therethrough, means for closing said dischargepassage, said bottle having an inner polyethylone surface formed bysaturated polyethylene molecules and having an outer surface consistingsubstantially of highly unsaturated polyethylene molecules which roughenthe surface and produce a drag against the fingers when the bottle ismanually grasped, and a body of hygroscopic fire-extinguishing powderwithin the bottle and consisting principally of sodium bicarbonate, saiddischarge passage in said closure having a diameter between about and/32 of an inch, whereby when said bottle is manipulated by rapidsqueezing, the powder is discharged in the form of a cloud of dust.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHERREFERENCES Modern Plastics, November 1947, page 158, article entitledPowder Dispensed from Squeezable Bottle.

